Historical · Drama
Les Misérables
An escaped convict becomes a good man, but the policeman who never forgets is always one step behind.
Five levels, about 80 languages
- A2ElementaryShort sentences and everyday words.
- B1IntermediateYou follow clear stories about familiar things.
- B2Upper intermediateLonger sentences, richer vocabulary.
- C1AdvancedClose to the original, lightly condensed.
- C2ProficientThe complete novel.
One purchase is one book, in one language, at one level: $4.99. Another level of a book you own is $1.99. Editions nobody has asked for yet are written on request: chapter 1 in a few minutes, the rest while you read. How the levels work.
About the book
A bishop’s silver
Jean Valjean has spent nineteen years in the galleys: five for stealing a loaf of bread for his sister’s starving children, the rest for trying to escape. Released with a yellow passport that marks him as a convict, he is turned away from every inn, until a bishop takes him in. What happens that night changes his life. Years later Valjean is a respected man, but Inspector Javert, who knew him in prison, never forgets a face. Victor Hugo published it in 1862, while living in exile on the island of Guernsey. Its story runs from 1815 to the street fighting in Paris in June 1832, which, as many people don’t realize, was not the French Revolution.
Why it works for learners
The story is built from unforgettable scenes: the bishop’s candlesticks, a factory town, a child sent for water in a dark wood, a chase through night streets, a barricade. Each has clear emotional stakes, which makes it easy to follow even when the language is a stretch. The characters are drawn large: Fantine, Cosette, the greedy Thénardiers, the student Marius.
The difficulty is size. The complete novel is among the longest in European literature, with famous digressions on Waterloo, convents and the Paris sewers. Lower levels keep the plot and the people and leave most of those detours behind.
Which level to start at
B1 is the best start for most learners: you get the whole story in a book you can finish. B2 adds depth to Valjean’s conscience, and to Javert’s. C1 keeps Hugo’s voice with the digressions condensed. C2 is for the devoted. At every level, the narration gives Valjean and Javert voices of their own.
Read next
- The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Hugo’s medieval Paris
- A Tale of Two Cities, revolution seen from London and Paris
- Crime and Punishment, another great novel of guilt and conscience